A novel integrated care concept (NICC) versus standard care in the treatment of chronic cardiovascular diseases: protocol for the randomized controlled trial CardioCare MV.

Background: Cardiovascular diseases are the major cause of death globally and represent a major economic burden on health care systems. Positive effects of disease management programs have been shown for patients with heart failure (HF). Remote monitoring and telemonitoring with active intervention are beneficial in atrial fibrillation (AF) and therapy-resistant hypertension (TRH), respectively.

Apical and midventricular transient left ventricular dysfunction syndrome (tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy): frequency, mechanisms, and prognosis.

Background: The frequency and potential differences between patients with apical ("typical") and midventricular ("atypical") ballooning have not been described.

Methods: Consecutive patients with the diagnosis of a troponin-positive acute coronary syndrome (ACS) were prospectively included into a registry (n = 3,265). Of those, 2,944 patients underwent left-heart catheterization and form the study population.

Comparison of coronary restenosis rates in matched patients with versus without diabetes mellitus.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an established risk factor for stent restenosis, in part as a result of the smaller vessel dimensions and longer lesions. This study compared the magnitude of acute lumen gain and late lumen loss after elective coronary stent implantation in patients with and without DM using a matched-pair analysis. A total of 133 patients with DM and 192 coronary lesions were included in this analysis.

Thienopyridines in percutaneous coronary interventions: standard procedures and high risk subsets.

Due to the significant clinical and economic consequences of subacute stent thrombosis and the use of more complex devices (brachytherapy, drug eluting stents) in a variety of clinical situations (i.e. acute coronary syndromes), initiation and duration of a combined antiplatelet therapy using aspirin and a thienopyridine drug has become an issue of ongoing discussion in interventional cardiology.

Treatment of in-stent restenosis using a paclitaxel-eluting stent: acute results and long-term follow-up of a matched-pair comparison with intracoronary beta-radiation therapy.

Aims: Intracoronary radiation therapy (ICR) has significantly improved the long-term outcome after treatment of diffuse in-stent restenosis (ISR). The efficacy of drug eluting stents in this setting remains less well defined. This matched-pair analysis compared the procedural and long-term clinical and angiographic outcome after treatment of diffuse ISR using a paclitaxel-eluting stent (PES) with intracoronary beta-radiation therapy.

Relation of fasting insulin plasma levels to restenosis after elective coronary stent implantation in patients without diabetes mellitus.

The results of this study in 172 patients without diabetes who underwent elective stent implantation showed a significant correlation between preprocedural fasting insulin serum levels and angiographic late lumen loss (correlation coefficient 0.49, p <0.0001).

Dexamethasone and restenosis after coronary stent implantation: new indication for an old drug?

Restenosis after stent implantation is mainly characterized by an inflammatory response to the procedural injury and an intense fibrocellular response including smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation. After angioplasty alone, the restenosis process also involves thrombus formation and negative remodeling. Due to the pleiotropic mode of action exerted by glucocorticoids which include profound anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects, direct inhibition on SMC proliferation and apoptosis, their potential in the prevention of restenosis has gained widespread interest.